Sustainable Finance Lab
INTEGRATING FINANCIAL INSIGHT INTO DECISION-MAKING AND ADVANCING IDEAS TO FOSTER MORE CAPITAL INVESTMENT INTO THE ENERGY TRANSITION
Sustainable Finance Lab
Reference Corner
Cumulative investment in the tens of Trillions of dollars will be required to decarbonize the global economy. There is broad understanding that public capital can only provide a very small portion of such investment. The public sector needs to create vibrant enabling environments for private investment, and there is also ample room for the private sector to act on its own.
The Payne Institute brings vast experience from the financial industry, academia and the public sector. Through the Sustainable Finance Lab, we seek to collaborate across all three areas to bring a deeper and actionable understanding of the opportunities for financing sustainable energy and the energy transition. We will also advance ideas related to spurring investment, encompassing financial products, the roles of investors, markets, policy and regulation.
PAYNE FINANCIAL FLOW
Snapshots of trends and financial tools in the energy transition
- VCM Pricing Stronger Than Standardized Contracts Suggest
- The Recent Reshaping of Renewable Energy Investment
- Energy Transition Investment Tops $1 Trillion in 2022
- Environmental Debt Issuance’s Very Strong 2022
- A Global Public Good Push for the World Bank
- Voluntary Carbon Markets Softened in 2022
- Hess’ Massive Guyana Carbon Offsets Commitment
- ETMs Progress and Appear to Evolve
- Proposed Clean Energy Credit Support for India
- The Energy Transition Accelerator’s Potential
RESEARCH
Change Gfanz to save it 2/21/2023
Change Gfanz to save it
Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler writes about how investor alliance must reconcile push for decarbonisation with responsibility to maximise returns for clients. A widely circulated report in mid-January chastises Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (Gfanz) members for continuing to lend to coal and, oil and gas development. February 21, 2023.
Retiring Coal? The Prospects Are Brighter Than They Appear 11/17/2022
Retiring Coal? The Prospects Are Brighter Than They Appear
Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how as COP27 draws to a close, the conference is proving to be a disappointment for environmental advocates focused on eliminating the planet’s number one emitter: coal-fired power. In the tumult of international uncertainty, governments have looked to coal as a security blanket of sorts. Coal’s ability to deliver power 24/7 compares favorably to some renewable energy, like solar and wind, that is variable and, at least to some degree, unpredictable. November 17, 2022.
Accelerating Coal Plant Retirement 11/8/2022
Accelerating Coal Plant Retirement
Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler presented on how we can bridge the academic work with policy- and decision-makers to accelerate coal plant retirement. November 8, 2022.
Colorado must move quickly to keep pace on carbon capture 9/28/2022
Colorado must move quickly to keep pace on carbon capture
Payne Institute CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield, Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, and Director Morgan Bazilian write an opinion piece about promoting safe and secure injection of CO2 is in the public’s interest, and how Colorado is poised to be central in the effort. Amid growing interest in using carbon capture and sequestration, or CCS, as a tool in the fight against climate change, several states’ legislatures approved CCS-related rules governing commercial and liability issues during their recently ended sessions. Colorado was not among them. September 28, 2022.
Demand in the dark: Estimating the true scale of unmet electricity demand in Sub-Saharan Africa 9/11/2022
Demand in the dark: Estimating the true scale of unmet electricity demand in Sub-Saharan Africa
Mines Mineral and Energy Economics student researcher Sankalp Garg, Payne Institute Fellow Benjamin Attia, Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how although the understanding the scale of energy poverty remains elusive, it is a key metric in the global effort to eradicate poverty. This paper provides insights into the true scale and impacts of unreliable electricity service provision and introduces a simple and novel approach to quantifying the difference between electricity supply and demand, accounting for both met and unmet demand in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). September 11, 2022.
The case for closing coal plants at scale 8/23/2022
The case for closing coal plants at scale
Deb Chattopadhyay, Payne Institute Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how pressure to retire coal-fired power plants is building due to economic and environmental concerns. Four business models can be applied to plant closures but greater efficiencies can be achieved when there are coal plant closures-at-scale. A hybrid model is likely better when a country or region wants to look at a large programme of coal plant closures-at-scale. August 23, 2022.
Making carbon offset disclosure align with climate value
Making carbon offset disclosure align with climate value
Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler, Communications Associate Simon Lomax, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the voluntary carbon market would benefit from a ratings system to score the climate effectiveness of different offset types. Carbon offsets have a valuable role to play in mobilizing private capital to reduce greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere and slow the pace of climate change. July 18, 2022.
Clearing the Non-Technical Hurdles for CCS 7/15/2022
Clearing the Non-Technical Hurdles for CCS
Payne Institute Communications Associate Brooke Bowser, Sustainable Finance Lab Program Manager Brad Handler, CCUS Program Manager Anna Littlefield, and Director Morgan Bazilian write about how the oil and gas industry began injecting carbon dioxide into the ground in the 1970s as a technique to produce more oil (now called enhanced oil recovery), but today there is a renewed interest in CO2 injection for carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects — this time as a way to address climate change. Despite CCS technology itself being decades-old, persistent regulatory and liability questions paired with limited economic viability threaten development, even as the industry appears to be gathering momentum for large-scale growth. July 15, 2022.
Less is More: The Impact of Auto Lender Risk on Household Auto Purchases
Less is More: The Impact of Auto Lender Risk on Household Auto Purchases
Payne Institute Faculty Fellow Ian Lange, Payne Institute Researcher Caitlin McKennie, and Mirko Moro write about how credit risk can be an impediment to new auto purchases, especially for electric vehicles. This paper looks at the elimination of auto loan cramdowns for Chapter 13 bankruptcy proceedings, where the loan value is made equal to the auto value, on three outcomes: auto value, likelihood of new auto, and loan-to-value ratio of new autos. Using a difference-in-difference approach based on a state’s historical use of Chapter 13 bankruptcy, we show that household’s secure better loan-to-value ratios and acquire higher valued autos due to lower credit risk following the reform. July 5, 2022.
Coloradans seeing their heating bills go up and up, keeping agencies busy 2/26/2022
Coloradans seeing their heating bills go up and up, keeping agencies busy
Payne Institute Program Manager Brad Handler contributes to this article about how higher natural gas prices, colder weather and lingering economic woes caused by the pandemic are squeezing energy customers in Colorado and keeping the agencies that provide help busy. February 26, 2022.
Leadership
Brad Handler
Payne Institute Program Manager,
Sustainable Finance Lab, and Researcher
1600 Jackson Street, Suite 370
bhandler@mines.edu